Ch. 8–2: How Melaka Became Siam’s BFF

The chapter continues when the failed Siamese army goes back home. The war-​chief Awi Dicu presents himself to King Bubunnya and explains what happened. Bubunnya has a son, Cau Pandan, who tells his father that HE will conquer Melaka instead. (Well, why didn’t he offer the first time?) So the king tells the prince and his posse to get ready to set sail.

Word of this reaches Sultan Muzaffar Syah of Melaka, as it always does. There is a Sayyid in Melaka who happens to be with a group of people having an audience with Sultan Muzaffar Syah at that time. This Sayyid is a very skilled archer and always carries his bow with him. When he hears of the Siamese plan, he takes out his bow and draws it, pointing in the direction of Siam. As he shoots the arrow he says, “Cau Pandan is a goner!” At that precise moment, in Siam, Cau Pandan suddenly feels like he is shot in the chest by an arrow; he then vomits blood and drops dead. Therefore, Siam cancels its plan to invade Melaka. The news reaches Melaka of Cau Pandan’s bizarre death. Sultan Muzaffar Syah says “The Sayyid spoke the truth!” and rewards him (instead of jailing him for dabbling in black magic).

Sultan Muzaffar Syah then pragmat­ically says, “Won’t it be a good idea to send envoys to Siam? Let’s give a peace a chance , man.” And the prime minister says, “Yes, it’s better to be friends than enemies.” Sultan Muzaffar Syah commands Tun Telanai, son of Bendahara Paduka Raja, to go as envoy, accom­panied by Menteri Jana Putera as his deputy. Tun Telanai has a fleet of twenty ships, all of them three-​masted (“lancaran tiang tiga”).

When they’re ready, Sultan Muzaffar Syah decrees to Bendahara Paduka Raja and all the chiefs: “You need to compose a letter for the king of Siam. The letter must not be a grovelling one, and should not be one of greeting or of friendship, either.” Bendahara Paduka Raja then tells the chiefs: “You heard the king! Get the letter written.” But not one of them knows how to write such a letter. The Bendahara asks everyone in the palace, down to the lowest-​ranking officer, but they are all clueless. So the Bendahara himself composes the letter, which begins “A struggle between us would have fatal consequences, although in such a struggle we would have respect for King Bubunnya; but because we have confidence in your blessing, we present to you two envoys, Tun Telanai and Menteri Jana Putera.” The letter continues in this vein, and it meets with the sultan’s approval.

Once the letter is done, it is paraded on an elephant as part of a procession beside the hall. The letter is carried by a knight (“anak ceteria”); at the head of the elephant is a herald (“anak abentara”) and a court minister acts as escort. In the procession are two white umbrellas and official drums, clarinets and trumpets. Tun Telanai and Menteri Jana Putera pay homage to the sultan, who provides them with robes of honour, and then the posse leaves.

In Siam, word reaches Bubunnya’s court of this delegation from Melaka. Bubunnya orders the letter to be brought from the ship with full ceremony, and paraded in a procession. When the procession reaches the court, Bubunnya orders his minister to read the letter. When he hears how the letter is worded, he asks who wrote it. Tun Telanai replies, “The Raja of Melaka’s Prime Minister, Your Majesty.” Bubunnya then asks: “What is the name of the Raja of Melaka?” Tun Telanai doesn’t ask “You mean you didn’t know his name when you ordered his kingdom to be invaded?” but instead says, “Sultan Muzaffar Syah.” Bubunnya then asks, “What is the meaning of Muzaffar Syah?” When Tun Telanai cannot answer, Menteri Jana Putera comes to his rescue by replying, “Muzaffar Syah means ‘he who is protected by God from his enemies.”

Then the king of Siam asks, “How did Melaka manage to withstand the attack from Siam?” And Tun Telanai sends for a man (who had come from Melaka with them), who is old and has elephantiasis (“huntut”) on both legs. Tun Telanai tells this man to take out his spear and show his stuff. The man throws the spear into the air and then makes it land on his back, as if to pierce him — but it bounces off, leaving him unharmed! Tun Telanai says: “That is the reason Melaka did not fall; all the men of Melaka are invincible!”

The Invincible War!

The Raja of Siam says, “You must be right. If even an ugly commoner like this old geezer can withstand a spear, imagine what the men of nobility must be like!” So the king Bubunnya decides to leave Melaka be, and to conquer a neigh­bouring country instead. Since they are now friends, he takes Tun Telanai, Menteri Jana Putera and the Melaka posse to be with his army.

He instructs the Melaka men to be placed, in this battle, where the enemy happens to be in full force (“ketumbukan yang keras”), which is in the west. Tun Telanai nervously says to Menteri Jana Putera, “What the hell do we do? The enemy’s strong here, we’re gonna get creamed!” But Menteri Jana Putera has a cunning plan and says, “Let me speak to the king.” So the two Melaka men present themselves to the Siamese king, and Menteri Jana Putera says, “Your Majesty, we Muslims have to face west (to Mecca) when we pray. Therefore, we are not allowed to fight when facing the west (“mengadap ke matahari mati”). We humbly ask you to place us in a different area.” And Bubunnya replies, “Oh, is that so? Then go to a different part of the line.” So they are assigned to a different area, facing the east (“mengadap ke matahari hidup”) where the enemy forces are thin, and so the Melaka men, with the grace of God, win the battle. It is indeed the Melaka men who lead the charge; and they are followed by the Siamese army. After that country is conquered, the Siamese reward Tun Telanai, Menteri Jana Putera and their men. Tun Telanai is given a princess named Otang Minang, whom he marries. He then takes his leave, and the king gives him a letter, together with gifts. The group is brought in a procession to the ship, and Tun Telanai sets sail.

In Melaka, Sultan Muzaffar Syah receives the delegation with full ceremony; and the elephant is made to kneel so that the letter from Siam can be accepted by a herald, and then read out by a khatib. Sultan Muzaffar Syah is pleased with the tone of the letter, and so rewards Tun Telanai and Menteri Jana Putera as well as the Siamese envoys. When the time comes for the Siamese envoys to leave, Sultan Muzaffar Syah presents them with robes of honour (there must be a busy textile factory nearby) and a letter in reply to the king of Siam. They then set sail.

According to the accounts, Tun Telanai then has several children with Otang Minang; one of whom, Tun Ali Haru, becomes Laksamana (Admiral). (He may not have been such a distin­guished Laksamana, because he is absent from the rest of the manuscript.)

After reigning for 40 years, Sultan Muzaffar Syah dies. His son Sultan Abdul ascends the throne and carries the title Sultan Mansur Syah. He is 17 when he becomes king and is married to a relative of Seri Nara Aldiraja. He has no children with his queen but he has a child by his concubine Puteri Bakal, so he must have paid attention during Sex Education in school. Sultan Mansur Syah turns out to be a jolly good king, fair and generous; as a bonus, he is also the handsomest dude of his time (“baik parasnya, pada zaman itu seorang pun tiada ada samanya”).

Aug 27, 2010 – 1:20 PM | By Amir Muhammad | Posted in Blog Post | Comments (861)

Previous Chapters

  • CH 15–2: How Kampar Got Steamrolled by Melaka
  • CH. 15–1: How a Melakan Warrior Had to Wait Before Kicking Haru Asses
  • Ch. 14–5: Why the Bendahara Mentions Royal Horniness on His Deathbed
  • Ch. 14–4: How Melaka Delivered a Smackdown to Pahang
  • Ch. 14–3: How the Sultan of Melaka Turned into a Kick-​ass Vigilante
  • Ch. 14–2: How a Grandmother From Hell is Stopped from Committing Regicide
  • Ch 14–1: How the People of Campa Ended Up in Melaka
  • Ch. 13: How the Pasai King’s Uppity Words Lost Him a Valuable Ally
  • Ch. 12–3: How the Sultan of Melaka Got Cock-​Blocked
  • Ch 12–2: How The Pasai Philosopher Answers (or Not) a Riddle from Melaka
  • Ch. 12–1: Why the Horny Prince of Mengkasar Goes on a Destructive Spree
  • Ch. 11: How a Game of Sepak Raga Turned Deadly
  • Ch. 10: How the Raja of China Cured His Skin Problem
  • Ch. 9–5: How the Sultan of Melaka Got His Elephant Back
  • Ch. 9–4: How the Raja of China’s Daughter Came to Melaka
  • Ch. 9–3: How Hang Tuah Killed Hang Kasturi
  • Ch. 9–2: How the Melakans Responded to the King of Majapahit’s Practical Jokes
  • Ch. 9–1: How the Queen of Majapahit Chose Her Husband
  • Ch. 8–2: How Melaka Became Siam’s BFF
  • Ch. 8–1: How the Siamese Were Fooled
  • Ch. 7: Why The Bendahara of Melaka Committed Suicide
  • Ch. 6–3: How Melaka was Founded, and Then Became Muslim
  • Ch. 6–2: How a King’s Horniness Got Him into Trouble with His Brother
  • Ch. 6–1: How Islam Came to the Malay World
  • Ch. 5: How Eating Vomit Can Make You A Superman
  • Ch. 4: How Singapura Repaid Majapahit’s Insult
  • Ch. 3: How Singapore Got Its Name
  • Ch. 2: How China Saved Itself
  • Ch. 1: Alexander?

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